The Master's End
by 0Dutchy0
Summary: The Master found his way out of the Time Lock, and immediately plans to put a New Gallifrey back in the skies. He's set up a new, galaxy wide Archangel network throughout the Lynx galaxy, ready to use the energy contained in the supernovas and metal capacity of every living thing in the galaxy to puncture a new untempered schism, and that's where we join the story.
1. Chapter 1: New Gallifrey

**Well, here goes my first Doctor Who story. There will be three chapters in total, all of which I hope to complete tonight. I'm not sure if all the facts check out with all of Doctor Who, but let's face it - A lot of the episodes barely do that anyway. You're coming in to the middle of an adventure here, but you'll catch what's going on fairly quickly. Set after season 6.**

**By the way, all the refrences check out as far as I know - from the Nazcas to the Lynx galaxy. Look them up if you wish. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 1: New Gallifrey**

The Doctor dashed through the halls of a space vessel far beyond the technology level of the current time. He rounded a corner, then used his sonic screwdriver to take out a security camera. Taking a minute to catch his breath, he turned his wrist communicator on.

"River! Did you get off the satellite safely?" he shouted with urgency. There was a moment of silence, in which the doctor's hearts dropped. They soared again when the communicator crackled from the other end.

"Sweetie, did you ever doubt I would?" the other time lord told him.

"AhaHA! Excellent! Now, find a safe place to hide! I'll come and get you when things are taken care of here!"

"There shouldn't be a problem there – the vortex manipulator you gave me must have been faulty, I seem to be on Earth. Peru, actually. Well, what will become Peru; I'd estimate around 200 BC, maybe earlier. These Nazca really seem to enjoy my space suit…"

"Yes, yes, well, that can't be helped. I got it off an old time agent who was missing a wrist to wear it on...but never mind that. Just don't go fooling around with history. I don't want to have to deal with two time lord messes in one day!"

"Oh, just hurry up and stop him, Sweetie! I'll be fine! Yes, now that rock should go over there…"

"River! Ugh. No time to worry about that now." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the hallway ahead. Checking the readings, he ran off down the corridor to the right. It wasn't long before he had to make a u-turn and head down the opposite corridor.

A few minutes of running brought him to a particularly large chamber, near the center of the space ship.

"Ah, Doctor! I was wondering when you would show up!" said a man sitting on a throne on the far side of the room.

"Well, I lose track of time every once in a while" the doctor stated. Then, he continued distractedly, "…Well, time loses track of me…Well, we lose track of each other at any rate. What's important is that I'm here now! And I've put a stop to your 'new archangel project', or whatever it is you were calling it."

The Master stood up, and started to laugh. "Oh, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor. Poor, naive Doctor. You may have mysteriously found your way through the guards, then miraculously hatched a pea brained scheme that only _just _manages to stop my Network at the last second on _one _main control satellite. Hell, knowing you, you might have found a way to do so on _both_ main control satellites. But I can nearly guarantee that you did NOT manage to find a way to render them both useless _at the same time!_"

"Well, actually, I didn't manage to take out either satellite" the Doctor admitted "…At least, not yet, but before I get to that I-"

"Oh, here it comes," The Master started mockingly. "The big Doctor speech on how I made the wrong choices, but deep down inside I'm still a nice, kind, loving time lord who only wants to spread peace, love, joy, and flowers around the universe! Well, Doctor, you might as well not even bother, because you're WRONG!"

"Well, that might not have been what I was going to bring up, but-"

At that moment, the Doctor was cut off yet again; this time by the Master raising a finger. "Just a second, hold that thought. I have to take this." He pressed on an earpiece. "Hello? Well of course, who else would it be? …What?...What do you mean, all of them?! Even the Judoon? But that's impossible!...Phaser blasts? Yes, I am aware the Doctor never uses a gun!...The control room? That's impossible!…No…No!... I am _positive_ that there's no need to check out the control room! I would have felt it if they had tried to destroy it, and the dual repair system would come online anyway! Go and check the other satellite, _now!_" The Master pressed on the earpiece again, sighed, and slumped back down into

"…Who was it?" The Doctor asked, innocently.

"Do you know, Doctor, how _hard_ it is, to find good help these days?"

There was a strained silence. "…When you said you would have felt it if we tried to destroy the satellites…"

"Yes, yes, I mean I already connected my consciousness to the overall matrices of the network, rendering me part of the system as a whole," the Master said, as if he were talking to a fifth grader who had asked how to subtract.

The Doctor started to look worried. "You know, I don't think that was such a good-"

"Oh of course it was!" The Master said, starting to get annoyed. "This way, you can't just waltz your little mind into my system and use the collective thought power of this galaxy to, say, force me into the regeneration process, or rewrite your defeat, or some other near impossible feat that allows you to 'save the universe', and everyone goes home all hunky-dory because the big bad Master was defeated!"

"But if the satellites are destroyed-"

"You're not paying attention, Doctor!" the Master said with glee. "If BOTH satellites go down, I will be violently disconnected from the system. Violently, but NOT fatally. Besides, that would only occur if BOTH satellites were to go down! BUT, thanks to the dual repair and reconstruction system, if one of the satellites were to be damaged, the OTHER would automatically move to repair it with its own blueprint! You can't destroy BOTH unless you do it at the SAME TIME!"

"Master, just hear me out, we may not have destroyed the satellites, but we-"

"Hang on, _we?_" The Master asked, standing up. "Who's _we?"_

"…Long story, starts in a library, ends in a wedding. We don't-"

Once again, the Master raised a finger to cut the Doctor off, before pressing the earpiece again.

"Yes?...And you're _sure _ the control room is open? Fine. No, leave them. Yes, that's all." He pushed on the earpiece one final time.

"Tell me, Doctor, how did you manage to find _another _time lord? And don't try and protect them, the control room doors would only open to a sample of time lord DNA."

"I didn't FIND her, she found me. Then I found her parents. Then I found her. Then we went through a span of finding each other. Quite a lot, actually."

"Hang on…Wedding?" The Master said, referring to the Doctor's previous statement. Realization dawned on the Master's face. "Ohhh…Ohohoho! You sly dog! You got married to _another_ time lord! Wherever did you find her? Or is it a him? I've always wondered with you…"

"Her name's River, and as I already said, I didn't find her-"

"Hang on, I wasn't invited to the wedding!" The Master said, with an overly exaggerated fake pout. "And here I was, wondering when I would get the call to be best man!"

"Well, you WERE stuck in a time lock. Which reminds me, how _did _you manage to get out of that one?"

"Oh, now now now, Doctor, a magician never reveals his tricks! But I'll tell you, it wasn't easy. There were sacrifices; I used all but one of my remaining regenerations. And how I miss my lightning hands…But, I'm back, and ready to put New Gallifrey on the celestial map!"

"And how does taking over the Lynx Galaxy help you with that?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, I am going to need a LOT of energy to poke a new untempered schism in the fabric of space and time. Not to mention the sheer amount of rock and debris it will take to build a planet. So I thought 'where could I get such power?'. Then I realized – the supernova factory! The hottest star-birthing region in the universe! The Lynx Galaxy!"

"That doesn't explain the Archangel network you've worked so hard to set up," the Doctor pointed out.

"Well, I needed raw thought and consciousness to direct all that energy! Where to get that? The inhabitants of the Lynx galaxy! Don't you see, Doctor? This whole plan is eco-friendly! Nothing goes to waste!"

"Nothing except the countless lives you'll destroy!"

"Oh, please! What's a few average life forms compared to the dominion of the Time Lords reborn? I chose the least populated area I could find, come on! I'm practically a good guy now!"

"Master, I'm giving you a choice here. If you activate those satellites, you'll regret it for as long as you live!"

"Oooh, and why's that? Because the guilt would get to my head? Drive me insane? Well, I'll tell you, Doctor; I'm already there!" As he finished his sentence, the Master pulled an activation button from his pocket.

"No!" the Doctor yelled, running forward.

"Just think of it as a late wedding gift to you and your new bride! A new planet to repopulate!" And with that, the Master pushed the button.

**Well, that's that, for chapter 1 at least. I'd enjoy reviews, as every author does, but I guess you don't have to if you don't have the time. Even a word or two would be cool – it doesn't have to be a fully-fledged critical review.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Master's End

**Chapter 2: The Master's end**

There was a delay of three seconds after the Master pushed the button. Three seconds in which the plan the Doctor and River set up took effect.

At the end of the three seconds, the Master screamed in agony.

The Doctor, still running, caught the Master as he fell to his knees. Suddenly, there was an explosion somewhere in the spaceship, and the whole room rocked.

"It was a feedback setup!" The Doctor yelled over the noise. "Designed to knock out both satellites simultaneously as soon as they were activated! The input of one satellite is directly linked to the output of the other, and vice versa, so even a single thought would destroy the entire system!"

The master's scream reached a new octave as a fresh wave of pain flew through his mind.

"Don't think about it!" The Doctor yelled as another explosion rocked the ship. "Your own thoughts will cause feedback in your own mind! I TOLD you linking your brain to the system was a bad idea! Now, don't think about ANYTHING!"

The master got the message, and before long stopped screaming. There was a moment of peace; both Time Lords were too afraid to move in case it would induce a thought into the Master's head.

Another explosion rocked the ship.

More screaming came from the Master as new thoughts filled his head. The Doctor hoisted him up, and supported him with his shoulder.

"All right, now come on, block it all out." he told the Master as he guided him out of the room. The process was slow going – the Master would go through cycles of attempted thoughtless bliss before sinking back into intense mental anguish with the appearance of a rouge thought.

As they made their way through the door, there was another explosion, and the room behind them collapsed. "Oh, you just HAD to set EVERYTHING on the archangel network… Your spaceship, your brain, it'll be a miracle if you didn't hook up the TARDIS somehow," the Doctor yelled, over the noise, to his screaming companion. This simply caused the Master to yell louder, as new thoughts echoed and exploded inside his head.

Suddenly, the ceiling gave way. The Doctor managed to dive, Master in tow, out of the path of the falling debris. The Doctor stood up, and brushed the dust off his jacket. He noticed a strange lack of screaming, then in a panicked rush checked the floor around him. The Master was lying on the floor, unmoving.

"Oh no, not good, this is very not good," the Doctor said as he scanned the Master with his sonic screwdriver. "phew. Ok, just unconscious. So, good! Yes, very good! Not awake means no thoughts, no thoughts means no brain ripping feedback! Extremely good!"

The Doctor hoisted the Master over his shoulder, and continued on his way. "Ok, so you've packed on a few pounds since the Time Lord academy, I'll give you that," the Doctor muttered, voice straining in the effort. There was another explosion somewhere below them. "At least it's better than the screaming…I think…"

Before long, the Doctor managed to lug the Master back to where he had parked the TARDIS. He put the Master down abruptly on the seats near the console before turning to the controls. "Ok sexy, get us out of here!"

Flipping one final switch, the familiar sounds of the parking brake left on filled the air. Not two seconds after the TARDIS finished dematerializing, the space ship exploded completely, casting a blue light that was the signature of the energy generated by the archangel network.

On a planet far below, the Doctor watched the explosion happen from the outside of the TARDIS. He smiled slightly, thinking of all the lives saved by that one small blue light in the night sky. Creatures from planets in the entire galaxy would look upwards to see similar lights as the entire network was obliterated in an outward thought feedback wave. No one would know what caused this, and not one would ever believe how close they came to utter destruction.

But for now, the Doctor had other things to worry about. There was a single bellow from the interior of the TARDIS, and the Doctor dashed back in. After all that happened that night, he was afraid of what he might find.

The Master had rolled off the seats, and was lying on the floor. The Doctor ran over and helped him up, noticing that he was very weak. Once on his feet, the Master surveyed the scene in apparent wonder.

Feeling as if the worst had passed, the Doctor relaxed a little. "You're acting as if you've never seen a TARDIS before, Master," he told him.

The Master whipped around and stared at the Doctor, caught between confusion and wonder.

"Who are you?"

The Doctor stood, dumbfounded. The question was in all honesty – The Master had no idea who the Doctor was.

Suddenly, the Master's eyes caught the blinking lights of the controls. He started to take a step towards the console, arm outstretched.

"Don't touch-!" The Doctor yelled, starting to dash forward. The moment the Master's foot touched to floor again, however, the Doctor was forced to shield his eyes as a brilliant golden light filled the TARDIS. _The explosion of the archangel network must have damaged his mind enough to force a regeneration_, the Doctor thought, as the Master obtained a new body.

Once the light had died down, the Doctor looked again at the spot where the Master had been standing. When he saw the new regeneration, he nearly laughed out loud. "Who would have thought the Master would regenerate into a seven year old?" he said aloud.

Suddenly, the Master grew faint. The Doctor ran forward and caught him before laying him gently back onto the seats. He noted that the master now had light brown hair that was much longer than his previous regeneration, and a quick check of his eyes showed green. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and did a quick scan of the Master's new body.

"Looks like a healthy one…finished quite nicely…Oooh, the two heartbeats even got in sync, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he only had one!" The Doctor stopped once he reached the Master's head.

"Well, that can't be right…" he muttered, scanning the head again in confusion. "nearly empty of memories… He's just as old as me, there should be a millennia stored away up here!" A third scan only brought up the same results. "It's not like they're hidden, or locked away somewhere...all of his memories are just…Gone! Perhaps the Archangel network did more damage than I thought… Oh, of COURSE! If he was using a two way transfer…That would explain how he managed to survive the feedback of the entire population of this galaxy – information flowed in AND back out… But when he was disconnected…Well, that would be like unplugging the USB without safely removing the hardware!"

The Doctor laughed to himself. "Of course, NOW I can find a good analogy without anyone around that I need to explain it to…"

The Doctor stood up and started pacing. "Now, what am I going to do with you?" he asked rhetorically, looking at the Master's sleeping form. "You're just a helpless child at this point…No memory left…I could look after you yourself…" A sudden image of a Dalek bursting through the doors of the TARDIS while he taught the Master to tie his shoelaces came to mind. "Nooo, far too dangerous! Hmm…" the Doctor continued to think.

"I could leave you with…No, that's just plain rude, you can't show up on someone's doorstep with a seven year old child, expecting them to take care of him…Even if it IS Martha and Mickey the Idiot… What to do, what to do… Stormagedden- er, Alfie, made it very clear he did NOT want a brother…or sister for that matter... What to do, what to do…"

This went on for about five minutes.

"Oh come on, Doctor! You've saved civilizations, planets, galaxies, and the universe! Deciding on what to do with a seven year old can NOT be your greatest challenge!" he told himself.

"Well, what does a seven year old need? Hmm…Friends! Yes, yes, he needs friends! Most important thing of all. What else?... School! He needs to go to a school! Fill that empty head of his with knowledge, for now it's bare and full of air, dead flies and bits of fluff… Oh, there I go with J.K. again, I must remember to meet her one day…Ok, so friends, a school… Somewhere I know is safe to grow up, safety is good…He looks human, very human, so it'll probably have to be on Earth…But where and when on Earth is safe to grow up? And how can I be sure the friends he makes are decent? I don't want him growing up with a psychopath…maybe a highly functioning sociopath, but that's where I draw the line…"

Suddenly, realization dawned on the Doctor's face. "Oh….Ohoh… OHHHH! THAT'S IT! I'm brilliant! I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" With that, he started running around the console, performing all the required controls to get him when and where he needs to go.

When the TARDIS started to move through the vortex, the Master mumbled in his sleep, "Where're we going…"

"Hold on tight! We're going to meet the Ponds! At the only point in time where you are guaranteed find all three at once: primary school!"

**And there's chapter two. Not as much action, but the first was the only one with a real amount of action in it. The rest are filled with the real story behind it. Again, reviews would be greatly appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3: A New Begining

**Last chapter, guys! Hope you like it! I'd really like reviews, especially this being the last chapter, so I can get a feel for my own abilities as a writer.**

**Chapter 3: A New Beginning**

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS not long after it had finished materializing in 20th century Leadworth. Glancing around, he noted that he had overshot the landing by a bit and ended up in an alleyway just down the road from the Pond's school. He glanced back at the TARDIS's console to ensure he was at the correct date when he noticed the Master begin to stir.

"Probably best NOT to wake an amnesiac inside an impossible box…" The Doctor muttered as he dashed towards the Master. Picking up his small body, the Doctor carried him quickly out of the TARDIS before closing the door behind them.

"mmm… Where am I?" the Master mumbled.

"Ok, good, retained the ability to talk…that could have been disastrous…," The Doctor noted.

"What?"

"Are you feeling ok?" The Doctor asked.

"Wh-what happened?" the Master asked. "Why can't I remember anything?!"

The Doctor, hearing the panic in the young boy's voice, was quick to respond. "I…err…"

_Come on, Doctor, think fast! Improvise!_ he thought to himself.

"Uh…There's been a terrible accident," said the Doctor, his voice distinctly lacking the emotion to make his story believable. However, the Master, in his addled state, took no heed of this fact.

"Wha- what?" the Master said, almost visibly shrinking in the Doctor's arms with confusion, sadness, and fear. "What kind of accident? Why can't I remember anything!?"

"You…uhhh…Hit your head," the Doctor said weakly. _Well, it's not a lie,_ he told himself. "You seem to have complete memory loss."

The Doctor put the Master back on the ground. It took a few seconds for the Master to regain his balance.

"Where are my parents?" the Master inquired, looking up. "Are…are you my dad?"

"What? Oh, no! No, no, of course not!"

"Then where are my parents?"

_Parents!_ the Doctor thought in dismay. _I KNEW I was forgetting something! Children need PARENTS!_

"Uhh…" _Think, Doctor, think!_ "You never had any parents. You're from an orphanage. Yes, that's it! You are from an orphanage, and you grew up there, and that's why you don't have any parents!"

"Oh…" the Master replied plainly. "But…But what happened to my parents?"

_Do the questions ever stop? _"They…Uh…" _don't traumatize the boy now; I need something that won't depress him… _"Uh… I don't know, actually. You were found as a baby and brought to us. Yes! That's what happened!"

"oh…So…What are we doing here?"

_Again with the questions!_ "You, uhh…You were…found with a note! It said that we were to place you in the care of some people who live here – Leadworth, England!" _I am rubbish at lying…_

"Oh…ok."

_I have never before been so glad for the wondrous mind of a child, _the Doctor thought, glad to be through with all the questions.

"But first, we're going to go to school! I have a few people I think you would want to meet, and the recess bell is about to ring!"

* * *

"AMELIA POND!" the Doctor bellowed over the noise of the playing schoolchildren. He had long since grown tired of attempting to find the red haired girl in the crowd, and therefore opted for a more stationary approach.

The children all went silent at once, and looked towards the strange man with the bow tie.

"Now, that's better," the Doctor said, a little taken aback at the children's immediate attention. "I'm looking for Amelia Pond, has anyone seen her?"

"She's probably waiting outside the principal's office for Melody," said one of the boys with a snicker.

"That is, if she's not in there with her," said one of the girls. A few kids laughed.

"Right then," the Doctor said, heading through the doors of the school, Master in tow. Five seconds later, he stuck his head back out.

"And if one were to ask for directions to this principal's office?"

"It's right in through the doors and to the left," said one of the students, rolling their eyes.

"Oh, yes, of course. Continue with…Recess, I suppose." And with that, the children saw no more of the strange man.

Little did they know, they were soon to gain a new classmate in the timid boy that followed.

"Ah, Amelia!" exclaimed the Doctor, spotting her on a chair in the hallway. "It's been ages!"

"Doctor!" Amelia exclaimed, jumping up. "They said you were never coming back! They told me you weren't real! They said-"

"It seems we have met, then!" the Doctor exclaimed, happy to have gotten his timelines correct. "Now, I'm assuming young riv- Melody has found her way to the principal's office once again?"

"You know Melody too?!" Amelia exclaimed in delight. "How many other people do you know?"

"Oh, just the three of you," The Doctor said with a smile. "Hang on, that reminds me…Where is Rory?"

"Rory? Who's-"

At that moment, the door behind Amelia opened. A dark skinned girl walked out, rolling her eyes. A voice from within the office called after her.

"I mean it, Melody! One more toe over the line, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I won't be seeing that toe again, I got it," Melody finished with a slight mocking tone.

"Melody! Look who showed up!" Amelia exclaimed to her friend.

"Is that…Is that the _raggedy Doctor?_" Melody exclaimed in disbelief.

"In the flesh," the Doctor said with a smile. "Now, Amelia, this is…" the Doctor started, giving the Master a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Hang on, we should probably wait until everyone's here to do introductions. Do either of you know where Rory-"

"Did you come back to take us in your time machine?" Melody asked.

"Mels! You can't expect him to just take us with him with us!"

"Well, why the ruddy hell not?" Melody asked.

"MELODY! What did I say about using that language?" a voice shouted from inside the office.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Melody said in a bored tone. "You said he said he'd be back in five minutes; well, it's been five days, you should get something out of that!"

"Oooh…Yes, actually, sorry about that…long story, starts with time travel, ends with….time travel…maybe not such a long story, but still. Now! Where on Earth is Rory?"

"Doctor, who's Rory?!" Amelia half shouted.

"Why do you keep saying that?!" the Doctor half shouted back. "Rory, Rory Williams! Your hus- Your childhood friend! One of your _best _friends! Surely you two have met by now?"

"Williams? Rory Williams?" Melody asked.

"Ah, yes! Now we're getting somewhere!" the Doctor exclaimed. "All right, so you haven't met him yet. But you will now! And while that may have an effect on the future…Oh, what am I saying, I'm about to introduce a new child to the time stream! I've already messed it up enough by just being here… But I'm sure I can relatively smooth it out in the future…at least I hope…"

"Uh…Excuse me? Mr. Doctor?" Amelia inquired, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. The Master backed behind the Doctor as she approached, which was his first sign of life since entering the school. No one noticed, but his cheeks grew a deep shade of red when Amelia stepped foreward. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but…The only Williams' around here are Mr. and Mrs. Williams down the street, and they don't have any children."

There was a pause.

"What? What did you say?" The Doctor asked seriously.

"There is no Rory Williams around here, sir," Amelia told him.

"But…but that's impossible!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Unless…Unless he moved here after this date…No, no, I'm positive he mentioned growing up here as long as he could remember… Well, what if the crack in reality had a more serious effect?"

The Doctor looked around, as if expecting one of the children to give him the answer he was missing. They just stared back up at him inquiringly.

"No, no, no, that can't be it, reality was mended, all back to normal…Well, as normal as it ever was…which isn't that normal at all, but that's not the point! So you're absolutely _sure _there's no Rory Williams around here?"

"Absolutely," Amelia said.

"And we would know. I know every boy in our class!" Melody bragged.

"Only because you've snogged them all behind the gym," Amelia replied

"Melody, you're _seven!_" said the Doctor, a little shocked.

"I've been around here for seven years, that's for sure," Melody said, as if she was letting on to something she thought the Doctor wasn't aware of. Which, of course, he was fully aware of.

"Ok, ok…there's something definitely not right going on here… something very wrong has happened, and I just need to figure out what… So, I came here looking for the Ponds. I found two. Missing one. Where is that one? Where…is…Rory…"

The Doctor started pacing at this. "Came looking…two out of three…what am I missing…Rory, I'm missing Rory…Two out of three ain't bad…No, no, not the time for songs… Rory's missing again, where…when…why?"

The Doctor thought and thought, but no matter the solution, from Daleks to the Silence, there was no way he could explain Rory's disappearance this early in a newly repaired time stream.

"Ok…Maybe I need to think a bit more…general. Came here looking for three Ponds…No, I've done that, MORE general. I came here looking for three children, and what do I have here?"

The Doctor surveyed the room.

Amelia, one child.

Melody, two children.

But where was-

Wait.

Wait.

_Wait._

"Oh…oh, that's not…there's no way…I…I am so STUPID!" the Doctor exclaimed.

He looked back at the three children before him. "Amelia, Melody? Meet Rory."

**(Those who don't want the add-on of how the Doctor aligns the timestream to make everything match up [pointless backstory] can stop here. Here ends the main point in the story)**

*****Epilogue*****

"So, what are you saying, again?"

"Mr. Williams, Rory here was found on the streets with no recollection of who he was or how he got there," the Doctor explained, standing in the doorway of the Williams household. "In his pocket was this note." The Doctor extracted the psychic paper from his pocket, and showed the couple a blank sheet of paper. On it, they saw a hastily scribbled letter to the adoption agency that they, Rachel and Benjamin Williams, were to be named the guardians of Rory. There was no more explanation to it.

"Now, I know this is all happening a little fast for you," the Doctor started.

"Well, if it wasn't for your phone call yesterday, we really wouldn't believe any of this," Benjamin told the man he believed was the adoption agent.

"Right, the phone call," the Doctor said, making a mental note to make that phone call the moment he got back to the TARDIS. "Now, don't worry; taking care of a child is no more difficult than disarming a fusion detonator," he told them with a smile.

"Um…What?" Rachel asked.

"Uh…Never mind that, I have business to get back to – lots of kids up for adoption these days, you know," the Doctor told them.

"Oh…Of course," the Williams' told him. "But first…What's the boy's surname?"

"We don't know," the Doctor told them. "He wasn't found with one. I suppose he can just go by Williams."

"And, is there any hope of him ever getting his memory back? We want to be ready if it ever happens."

"Nope, no chance," the Doctor stated. _Not while he's living with you, anyway,_ he added to himself. _He'd need an imprint circuit from Gallifrey to put those memories back. And all of those were lost in the Time War._

"Well, that's just terrible! We are going to have to fill your head with a lot of good memories to make up for it!" they told the Master – now Rory.

The Doctor smiled, happy with the choice in parents he had made. _Well, there was no one else I could stick him with anyway,_ the Doctor said, _not without messing with the fabric of space and time again._

"Well, I'm sure you would like to get to know the boy, but we have some important business to attend to first," the Doctor said, taking Rory's hand. "Registration for school, and the like. We won't be long."

"Oh, you people do all of that for the children now? So thoughtful! Have a nice day! Mister…"

"Doctor," the Doctor said over his shoulder as he walked away. "Just call me the Doctor."

* * *

"So, wait, what are we doing here?" Amelia asked again, standing outside the door of the TARDIS.

"_Relax, _Amy, the Doctor got us off school half an hour early!" Melody reminded her. "I don't care what this is for, that's worth it!"

"Exactly," the Doctor told them. "Now, you two watch Rory while I go inside my time machine to get something, ok?"

"You're…You're not going to leave again, are you?" Amelia asked, frowning. The Doctor crouched down and looked her in the eye.

"Amelia Pond, I promise to never leave you like that again." He took her hand, and placed it on the outside of the TARDIS. "Now, you hold on tight. That way you'll know I can't go anywhere, even I wanted to. Back in a flash!"

The Doctor leapt inside the TARDIS, leaving the three children feeling a bit silly.

"He's probably gone into the library," Amelia told her friend.

"That thing has a library?" Melody asked, looking at the box in awe.

"And a swimming pool!" Amelia continued.

"I love swimming pools!" Rory told them excitedly, forgetting his own shyness. His face grew red with embarrassment.

"You know, kid, I like you," Amelia told the new boy. Rory's blush grew to an even deeper red. If his past life as the Master could only see him now… "I think we're going to be friends. I'm Amelia Pond," she finished, extending a hand. After a second of confusion, Rory shook it.

"And I'm Melody," the second girl told him, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. Rory let out a soft 'ow'.

At that moment, the doors to the TARDIS swung open again, and the Doctor jumped out. He held in his hands a strange contraption, about the size of a head, that was fixed to the TARDIS by a very long, very thick cord.

"What's that?" Amelia asked.

"This is the raw console of a chameleon circuit. Well, a broken one, at any rate. Used to disguise anything associated with time lords – from our technology to even ourselves! This one has a big hole in it right here," the Doctor said, tapping the circuit on an area masked with a metal strip on a locked hinge. "A convenient effect of looking into a raw Chameleon Circuit core is the mass erase of all memories related to Time Lords over the past two days or so."_ Can't have River reporting to the Silence on my activities,_ the Doctor thought _However much it pains me to have to do this…_ "Your little humany wumany brains will patch the memory with whatever makes the most sense up there. Everyone understand?"

The blank looks on the children's faces gave the Doctor his answer.

"No? Perfect! Now, everyone look toward the light, say cheese!"

On instinct, the three children did as they were told. The Doctor opened the hatch on the Chameleon Circuit, and a golden light poured out. After a split second, the Doctor closed the circuit once more, and carried it back into the TARDIS, closing the door.

"Phew," he said to himself. "Glad that's all sorted."

He dashed to the console, and whisked the TARDIS to another location as quickly as he could. _Don't want Amelia spotting the TARDIS and recognising it, _he thought.

The Doctor sighed, stood up, and looked onto the main display screen of the TARDIS. He saw planets, stars, and nebulas whiz by, but the view had long since bored him.

Suddenly, the old Time Lord laughed.

"Rory's the Master!" He said to himself. "The Master is Rory! Who would have thought, after all these years, we'd be back again for a few final adventures…"

Smiling, he hummed _La Vie en Rose _to himself as he worked the TARDIS controls.

_I don't think I would have it any other way._

**Well, that's that. Now that this is the final chapter, if you feel strongly about this fic in either direction, please let me know. I want to know if I should continue to submit stories, or just give up on the endeavour. Also, if enough comments request it, I'll include the SUPER SECRET BONUS CHAPTER 4! It's only one chapter, but it's layed out in such a way that you will understand the entire story behind what happens from just a page or two of words. Worth a shot, or not?**


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